CLEVELAND, Ohio -- It has become a tooth and nail battle in the Mid-American Conference to land one of the four top seeds for the upcoming MAC Tournament, and somebody is definitely going to get hurt. Right now it could very well be the Akron Zips.

Why? The MAC changed its tournament format in 2012 so the top two seeds go directly to the semifinals, and the next two seeds go directly to the quarterfinals.

The MAC also added a 'second round' for the bottom eight seeds. At most, one of the top four seeds only has to win three games in three days. Perhaps just two games in two days. Meanwhile, the remaining eight teams have to win five games in six days to win the tournament.

Before 2012, the format had the top four seeds getting byes to the quarterfinals. The bottom eight seeds played first round games, with the winners paired against the top four seeds in the quarterfinals. Now, the bottom eight play an opening round on campus sites. The four winners advance to Cleveland and play each other. Those winners advance to the quarterfinals vs. the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds.

For the majority of mid-major conferences, where it is rare to have more than a team or two annually compete for a league title, such a format protects the yearly elite. This season the Horizon League, which many compare to the MAC, has Green Bay (22-5, 12-2) clearly the best in the league, and two games ahead of the pack in the HL standings.

Injuries were a key to the Phoenix losing their two league games, but still, nobody else in the HL could touch them. Green Bay deserves to be rewarded for winning the conference, and protected as the best possible HL representative to the NCAA Tournament.

This is normal for the Horizon League, where only once in the last six years has more than two teams finished within two games of the conference champion. But the MAC is different.

This year is tracking to be the third time in the last six seasons, (2009, 2011) that four or more teams will finish within two games of winning a MAC title. In 2009 there were five teams. It could easily be five again this season.

And that would not just be a recent occurrence. In 2005 there were nine teams within two games of the leader and in 2001 there were six.

Under the old tournament format, Akron won the 2009 tournament as a No. 5 seed, winning four games in four days when all were held at The Q. In 2011 the Zips won as a No. 6 seed, first winning a tournament game in Rhodes Arena, then three at The Q.

On top of that, Ohio University won the 2010 MAC Tournament as a nine seed, then went on to post the MAC's first NCAA Tournament victory since 2003. Clearly, the quality and depth of MAC basketball traditionally runs deep.

Yet under the new format, with that extra game, it is very doubtful a MAC team seeded No. 5 or lower has a reasonable chance at winning the MAC Tournament. That leaves teams fighting tooth and nail for a chance to be one of the top four.

This season, Cleveland State (19-10, 10-4) is that No. 2 team in the Horizon League, but has two games remaining, including Tuesday night vs. Youngstown State in the Wolstein Center, to lock down that No. 2 seed for the conference tournament.

The Penguins (15-14, 6-8) defeated the Vikings, 67-66, earlier this season. CSU then travels to play at Valparaiso (17-12, 9-5) which also has hopes of landing the No. 2 spot, but needs to win out, at Wright State then vs. CSU, for that to happen. Green Bay is set to host the HL Tournament, but should the Phoenix be upset, the title game, March 11, will be played on the home court of the highest seed.

Food for thought: What do Western Michigan, Northern Illinois, Miami, Bowling Green, Kent State, Ball State and Central Michigan have in common? (That's the No. 1 team in the MAC, WMU, and the six bottom feeders). They have the fewest number of transfers among their top seven players than any of the other top five teams in the league. Toledo has four, Akron, Buffalo and Ohio University all have three.

Local women's hoops: The Akron Zips (7-8, 11-3) can't be stopped. Since losing three straight MAC games early in January, center Rachel Tecca (23.4 points per game) and her teammates have reeled off 10 straight victories. Doubtful they will be tested much this week vs. Miami or Kent State.

The Golden Flashes (6-19, 3-11), however, are at least now showing some spark as they have won two of their last three and three of their last six games overall. The challenge will be steep for Kent this week vs. MAC front runners Bowling Green and Akron.

Cleveland State (13-13, 8-5) lost two tough games last week and now looks to stay above .500 with its final two games this week at Oakland and home, Saturday vs. Illinois Chicago.

D3 tournaments open: The Ohio Athletic Conference and North Coast Athletic Conference tournaments begin this week for men and women.

In the OAC women's tournament, Baldwin Wallace (15-3) earned the No. 1 seed and John Carroll (15-3) is No. 2. Both receive a bye to the semifinal round and both will host games on Thursday at 7:30. The tournament opens with two games Monday and two more on Tuesday.

In the men's tournament, JCU and BW both open at home on Monday. John Carroll (9-9), the No. 5 seed, faces No. 8 Otterbein at 7:30. BW (9-9), seeded sixth, plays No. 7 Capital at 7:30. Mount Union (15-3) is the No. 1 seed and will host a semifinal game on Thursday.

Wooster is the No. 1 seed in the NCAC men's tournament and will host Oberlin on Monday. DePauw is top seed in the women's tournament and will face Wooster on Monday, while No. 7 Oberlin travels to No. 2 Ohio Wesleyan.

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